Advanced Usage Tips and Strategies

Take your Zenfl job alerts to the next level with these advanced tips, strategies, and best practices from experienced freelancers and our support team.

Feed Optimization Strategies

Creating Specialized Feeds

Rather than creating one broad feed, consider creating multiple specialized feeds:

• Primary Skills Feed: Focus on your core skills with tight filters and higher budget requirements
• Secondary Skills Feed: Capture opportunities in related skills you're comfortable with
• Exploratory Feed: Use broader criteria to discover new types of opportunities
• Premium Clients Feed: Set strict client filters (high ratings, lots of spent, enterprise only)

CASE STUDY

A web developer created three feeds:

1. "React Frontend $50+" with strict client filters
2. "WordPress Quick Jobs" with lower rates but verified clients
3. "New Tech Exploration" to find emerging tech opportunities

This approach helped them maintain a diverse project pipeline.

Keyword Strategy

How Search Works

Zenfl's search system is designed to be both powerful and flexible:

• Multiple Search Locations: You can target your keywords to appear in job title, description, or required skills
• Search Conditions: Use "ALL" to require all keywords to be present, "ANY" for at least one keyword, or "NONE" to exclude jobs with specific terms
• Strict vs. Non-strict Matching: Strict matching looks for exact words, while non-strict allows for similar variations
• Multi-group Logic: You can create multiple search groups that work with OR logic between groups and AND logic within groups

Recommended Strategy: Exclusion-First Approach

One of the most effective strategies is to focus on excluding what you don't want rather than narrowly defining what you do want. This approach works particularly well because it prevents you from missing out on good opportunities:

1. Start with very broad settings (minimum filters)
2. Check the "Jobs" tab to see the current matching jobs
3. Identify patterns in irrelevant jobs
4. Use the "NONE" search condition to exclude those patterns
5. Gradually add more exclusions until your feed shows mostly relevant jobs

This exclusion-focused approach helps you cast a wider net while still filtering out noise, resulting in more high-quality opportunities.

Additional Search Tips

• Focus on Job Title: The title is often the most reliable indicator of what a client is looking for. For example:

  • A job with "Frontend Developer" in the title is likely looking for that specific role
  • A job with just "Frontend" in the description might only be tangentially related to frontend work
  • A job with "UX Designer" in the title is specifically seeking that skill, while "UX" in the description might just be mentioned as part of a larger project

• Strategic Search Location Targeting:

  • Title searches yield the most relevant results (e.g., "React Developer" in title = directly hiring for that role)
  • Skills searches are great for technical requirements (e.g., "GraphQL" in skills = definitely need that expertise)
  • Description searches capture broader context but may be less precise

• Use the Visual Query Builder: Zenfl provides a visual interface for building complex queries - no need to write syntax manually. You can:

  • Create multiple AND/OR rules visually
  • Combine different search locations (title, description, skills)
  • Add negative conditions to exclude unwanted terms

• Enable strict mode when precision is critical, disable it to capture more variations

Industries and Specializations

Incorporate industry-specific terms alongside skill keywords:

Industry	Effective Keywords
E-commerce	"Shopify expert", "WooCommerce", "product catalog"
SaaS	"subscription", "dashboard design", "user onboarding"
Healthcare	"HIPAA", "medical", "patient portal"
Finance	"payment gateway", "financial dashboard", "banking"

Client Filter Mastery

Finding the Right Balance

Client filters significantly impact both the quality and quantity of your job alerts:

Filter Strictness	Job Volume	Client Quality	Best For
Minimal Filtering	Very High	Mixed	Beginners building portfolio
Moderate Filtering	Medium	Good	Mid-level freelancers
Strict Filtering	Low	Excellent	Established freelancers

Strategic Client Country Filtering

Be strategic with client location filters:

• Include: Countries with clients in your target market
• Exclude: Countries with consistently low budgets or poor matches

WARNING

Excluding too many countries can significantly reduce your job opportunities. Start with a small exclude list and adjust based on results.

Budget and Rate Strategy

Setting Effective Minimums

Rather than setting arbitrary budget minimums, calculate based on:

1. Your Hourly Target: What's your minimum acceptable rate?
2. Project Timeline: How many hours will similar projects take?
3. Overhead Factor: Add 20-30% for communication and revisions

Example: If your minimum rate is $40/hour and a typical project takes 20 hours plus 30% overhead, your minimum fixed budget should be around $1,000.

Fine-tuning Your Feeds

One of the most powerful features in the Zenfl mini-app is the "Jobs" tab, which allows you to preview which jobs match your feed settings in real-time.

Using the Jobs Preview Feature

To optimize your feeds:

1. Create or edit a feed with your desired settings
2. Switch to the "Jobs" tab to see which jobs currently match your criteria
3. Analyze the results to determine if they match your expectations
4. Adjust your filters and keywords as needed
5. Check the preview again to confirm the changes are working as expected

This interactive feedback loop makes it significantly easier to fine-tune your feeds without waiting for alerts to come through.

Timing and Response Strategy

Optimizing Response Times

The faster you respond to new job alerts, the better your chances:

• Enable Telegram Notifications: Make sure Telegram notifications are enabled
• Priority Hours: Identify peak posting times in your category and be extra responsive then
• Quick Application Template: Prepare customizable templates for faster responses
• Mobile Setup: Have the Upwork mobile app ready for quick applications

TIP

Our data shows that responding in the first 30 minutes after a job is posted increases your chances of being hired by approximately 40%.

Long-Term Feed Maintenance

Keep your feeds fresh and effective:

• Weekly Review: Check which feeds are generating quality leads
• Monthly Adjustment: Tweak underperforming feeds to improve results
• Quarterly Overhaul: Do a complete review of all filters every three months
• Seasonal Awareness: Adjust for seasonal fluctuations in your industry

Webhook Integration

Webhooks allow you to connect your Zenfl job alerts to other applications and services, creating powerful automation workflows.

Popular Integration Scenarios

Consider these powerful integration options:

1. Slack Channel Integration: Send high-priority jobs to a dedicated Slack channel
2. Make.com (Integromat) Workflows: Create custom automation flows that process and route job alerts
3. Zapier + CRM: Add promising leads to your CRM automatically
4. Custom Scoring: Build a system that scores jobs based on your criteria

IMPORTANT

Webhooks are transitioning from beta to a paid feature. The paid subscription includes 1,000 requests per month, with additional requests billed at $0.01 per job alert. To maintain webhook functionality, you must be a paid subscriber with sufficient account credits.

For detailed instructions on setting up and using webhooks, visit our Webhooks Integration page.

Still Need Help?

If you're still having trouble optimizing your feeds:

1. Check our Filter Reference for detailed information on each filter
2. Join our Support Chat for personalized assistance
3. Follow our Changelog Channel for latest features and updates
4. Contact Support at support@zenfl.pro for additional help with your specific scenario